In the Spotlight
NetTrekker
by Kathy Felix • Managing Editor/ News & Reviews
Editor
netTrekker, a subscription Web site, provides a straightforward search
engine designed specifically for K-12 education. The extensive site links to
more than 180,000 educator-selected online resources—including 18,000
lesson plans and learning exercises—all aligned to state academic standards.
The Elementary area, for grades K-5, provides content organized in the subject
areas of the Arts, Health and Physical Education, Language Arts, Mathematics,
Religion, Science, Social Studies, and Technology.
Each subject area includes a number of content groups. The Elementary Language
Arts subject area, for example, includes Reading and Visual Literacy, Literature,
Speaking and Listening, Journalism, and Writing and Grammar. Each group provides
classroom resources, as well as a Famous People button that links to sites
about and related to relevant famous people. At the time this article was written,
the Reading Skills area provided links to information tied to 11 individuals,
listed alphabetically, from Aesop to Robert Louis Stevenson.
Additional features on the Elementary home page include a Theme Search and
Famous People search, as well as links to a Featured Topic, References, and
Teacher Tools.
The classroom resources are linked to state standards and are organized by
state, grade, strand, and specific standard. A search for the Virginia Standards
of Learning 4th grade Science strand on scientific investigation brought up
nine lesson plans, 10 learning exercises, two learning games, six learning
resources with graphics or visual elements, and two resources with maps and
charts.
Each of the classroom resources includes reliability, grade level, and overall
ratings, as well as the name and resume of the teacher/evaluator who juried
the resource into the database. The state standards database is provided by
Academic Benchmarks of Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Secondary area, for grades 6-12, features resources for the Arts, Foreign
Language, Health and Physical Education, Language Arts, Mathematics, Philosophy
and Religion, Science, Social Studies, Technology, and Vocational Education.
A current events feature in this area provides links to both U.S. and world
news. The U.S. news links include news organized by state, curricular subject
area, and the subject of education. The world news links are organized by continent
and news organization sites. Both the U.S. and world news areas feature a Famous
People section.
Additional features on the Secondary home page include an encyclopedia, grammar
guide, maps, calculator, math formulas, and a Wordsmyth window that allows
users to find exact, broad, or spelled-like matches.
The netTrekker Web site also offers a Timeline, Cross-Curricular Search,
expanded Famous People search features, and Save Search options.
The Timeline provides a chronological index of eras, events, famous people,
art, and innovations throughout history. The Cross-Curricular Search features
resources useful for interdisciplinary or team-teaching.
The expanded Famous People search features allow users to locate information
on famous individuals meeting specific search criteria, including ethnic and
cultural heritage, occupation/profession, gender, and time period. The Save
Search options allow users to save their search results on the netTrekker server
for future review, modification, or delivery to students.
A 14-day free trial is available by contacting the company by phone or e-mail
[freetrial@nettrekker.com]. District, school, and individual subscriptions
are offered.
Kathie Felix
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